‘The Chancellor of the High Court has urged judges to “temper eagerness with restraint” in the way they conduct trials, after a circuit judge was found to have made excessive interventions while witnesses were giving evidence.’

‘HHJ Simon Drew QC and Lynda Gibbs explain why the pan-profession s 28 and ‘advocacy and the vulnerable’ training – being delivered to over 14,000 criminal advocates over the next two years – heralds a sea change.’

‘Rape complainants are being routinely questioned in court about their sexual histories and even the way they were dressed on the night they were attacked, according to a damning dossier of case studies to be presented to MPs this week. The findings have triggered calls for the law to be tightened to protect complainants better.’

‘I have been raising since 2014 the pressing need to reform the way in which vulnerable people give evidence in family proceedings. I have made clear my view that the family justice system lags woefully behind the criminal justice system.’

‘In a unanimous decision, the European Court of Human Rights has held that the proceedings that lead to the conviction of an individual for drug trafficking charges were entirely compliant with Article 6, ECHR. Despite the inability to cross-examine a key prosecution witness, the Court considered that in light of the existence of supporting incriminating evidence (amongst other factors) the proceedings as a whole were fair.’

‘Sex offenders think they’ll get away with it. And often they do. Sometimes it can take years to bring them to justice, while others escape retribution altogether. So how do you go about making sure perpetrators of horrendous crimes committed in the distant past are caught and convicted?’

‘Mark William Patrick MacLennan v Her Majesty’s Advocate, [2015] HCJAC 128. The High Court has refused an appeal under Article 6 on the lack of effective cross-examination of child witness, but has provided interesting commentary on how such investigations could be better handled in future to meet Strasbourg standards.’